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Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Dwight Nelson, has said that the Government cannot afford the wage bill which it will be saddled with in 2009/2010. "The Government cannot pay a wage bill of $149 billion," Senator Nelson said Friday(April 3). He explained that the Government is grappling with an increasing wage bill....

The management of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) wants insurance professionals to sensitise their clients about the products offered by the scheme. Director of the NIS, Denzil Thorpe, encouraged insurance agents, attending today's (April 1) quarterly meeting and induction ceremony of the Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (JAIFA), to introduce current and potential clients to the range of...

The Government will be reviewing the lending policy of the Student's Loan Bureau (SLB) to make it possible for beneficiaries to guarantee their own loans. Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday (March 31), noted that while SLB had done a "tremendous job" in assisting people to access tertiary education, there were still a large number...

Does it seem like your money is doing a disappearing act? Are you buying the same things, paying for the same services, but at much higher costs? Well, don't be too quick to blame it solely on the global financial crunch. The Consumer Affairs Commission(CAC) is urging shoppers to take a closer look at prices, and be much more vigilant...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Honourable Audley Shaw, today (Sunday, March 29) called on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and other multilateral development partners, to put in place economic stimulus packages for small, heavily indebted, and highly vulnerable economies like Jamaica, and other Caribbean countries. In making the call at the 50th anniversary conference of the IDB,...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, left the island earlier today (March 27), for Medellin, Colombia, where he will attend the 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The event, from March 27-31, will include the 24th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC),...

Director of the Computing and Engineering Entrepreneurial Centre (CEEC) at the University of Technology (UTech), Owen Gunning, has suggested that the Government impose a heavy tax on the importation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the island. He said such a move could help to reduce Jamaica's emission of ozone depleting substances and bring the country closer to meeting its obligations under...

On March 18, 2009, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered Jamaica's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Jamaica to 'B-' from 'B', one notch down in the rating scale. The short term debt was also lowered one notch down from 'B' to 'C'. However, the recovery rating of '4' and the negative outlook remained unchanged. Simultaneously, the...

Head of the Caribbean Development Bank's (CDB) Social Sector Division, Yvonne Moses Grant, says the prevailing economic crisis presents Caribbean countries with an opportunity for creative innovative solutions to deal with the challenges. "We must be creative and imaginative, finding the best solutions to the problems we face, creating new employment opportunities to offset the anticipated layoffs at the workplace,...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has said that the 2009/10 Budget, which would be presented in April, would provide stimulus to enhance productive capacity. "That is something that the government intends to focus on, (and) we have started. This Budget that comes out in April is going to show different avenues of how we are going...

Head of Psychiatry at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Wendel Abel, has said that Jamaicans are noted for being able to survive hard economical times. "The economists say that Jamaica is a remarkable country, because every time it appears to be teetering on the brink of disaster, and every time they expect Jamaica to collapse, the country comes...

Secretary Manager of the St. Catherine Parish Council, Christopher Powell, has urged residents to pay up their property taxes, to ensure delivery of services provided by the Council. Mr. Powell said that non-payment of these taxes has a restrictive effect on the Council, as the money is needed to pay for services, such as street lighting and solid waste collection...